Forty Thieves Solitaire strategy: how to win more often

Forty Thieves is one of the hardest solitaire games you will meet, and that is exactly why a clear plan matters. With two full decks, ten columns, and cards that move only one at a time and only onto the same suit, you cannot bluff your way through. You have to think ahead. The good news is that a handful of steady habits will turn a game you almost never win into one you win a respectable share of the time. You can play Forty Thieves here and try these ideas as you read. If you are still learning how the game is set up, start with the Forty Thieves rules first, then come back.

1. Treat every stock card as a decision, not a reflex

You get one pass through the 64-card stock, and no redeal. That single rule shapes everything. Once a card lands on the waste pile and you cover it, it may be gone for the rest of the game. So before you turn a card from the stock, look hard at the board and ask what you actually want to appear. Play out every useful move on the tableau first. When you do turn a card, place it somewhere purposeful if you can, rather than letting it sit on the waste. The waste pile is a graveyard here, not a resource you get to revisit.

2. Build the foundations slowly, not eagerly

New players rush cards up to the foundations the moment an Ace or Two appears. In Forty Thieves that instinct works against you. A low card sitting in the tableau is often more useful than the same card locked away on a foundation, because you can build down onto it and free the cards above. Send a card up only when it no longer helps you below, or when it directly unblocks something you need. Keep the two decks roughly even, so you are not stranding a red suit while three black foundations race ahead.

3. Guard your empty columns like gold

An empty column is the single most powerful thing you can own in this game, because only one card moves at a time. With no free space, a run of cards buried in the wrong order is almost impossible to untangle. An empty column lets you park a card, shuffle a short sequence one card at a time, and reach what you need underneath. So do not fill an empty column casually. Ask whether the card you are about to drop there is worth giving up all that freedom. Often the right move is to leave the column open a little longer, even if it feels like wasted space.

4. Move short same-suit runs by hand, and plan the steps

Because you can only move one card at a time, shifting a sequence of, say, the 9-8-7 of hearts to another eight is not one move but three, and it needs somewhere to put the loose cards along the way. That is where empty columns earn their keep. Before you start a multi-step shuffle, count it out in your head: do I have enough free landing spots to complete this, or will I strand a card halfway and jam myself? If the answer is no, do not begin. A half-finished move in Forty Thieves is often worse than no move at all.

5. Dig toward the cards you can already place

At the start, all forty tableau cards are face up, so you have full information. Use it. Scan the columns for cards your foundations will soon need, and work out which ones are buried shallowly versus deeply. Prioritise freeing cards that are only one or two deep, especially low cards and Aces, over chasing a perfect card stuck at the bottom of a long column. Clearing shallow blockers early tends to open up the board, which in turn creates the empty column from tip 3.

6. Keep your suits from crossing each other

Since tableau building is same-suit only, a red card can never help a black column, and vice versa. This makes it easy to accidentally build a long sequence that leads nowhere. Before you commit to a growing run, glance at where its next cards live. If the card you would need to continue is trapped under its own foundation-mate or buried deep in another pile, that run is a dead end dressed up as progress. Favour building on columns whose continuation cards are still reachable.

7. Look before you take the top of the waste

The top card of the waste pile is available, but taking it can expose or bury exactly the wrong thing. When a card you want is on the waste, first make sure you have a permanent home for it, ideally a same-suit tableau card or a foundation that genuinely needs it. Grabbing a waste card just to hold it, with no follow-up, usually costs you a tempo you cannot spare in a one-pass game.

The quiet losing moves

Most Forty Thieves games are not lost to one dramatic blunder. They are lost to small, comfortable-looking moves that quietly close doors. The most common is filling an empty column too early, trading your best maneuvering tool for a tiny bit of tidiness. Close behind is rushing cards to the foundations, which strips the low anchors you needed for tableau building. Then there is turning stock cards on autopilot, burying a card you will desperately want ten turns later. And finally, starting a multi-card shuffle without counting whether you have the free space to finish it.

Notice that every one of these mistakes feels productive in the moment. That is what makes them dangerous. The stronger habit is to pause before each move and ask a single question: does this keep my options open, or does it spend them? Forty Thieves rewards patience more than cleverness. Play slowly, protect your empty columns, hold your foundations back until they truly help, and treat the stock as a resource you only get to spend once. Do that consistently and the wins will come more often than the game’s fearsome reputation suggests.

For a full refresher on setup and legal moves, see the Forty Thieves rules.

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